Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Oops...Caught

I tried sleeping on the couch last night which maybe wasn't the best idea. I was able to get onto the couch, able to fall asleep, but getting UP again was tricky...fortunately I had prepared for it and had my cane handy to help.

So I went back to the recliner and after an hour or so of Morning Joe, which was more upsetting than usual, I went back to sleep and woke up around 9. Getting up, gingerly, I realized that yesterday my knee pain had gone from a 9 to a 5 and today I'd rank it at about 3. (I originally optimistically said a 2 until I moved around a bit.)

I actually was able to cook dinner last night, though had no appetite so other than a couple of bites of salmon and some tomatoes, I didn't eat anything.

Walt's plan today was to work at his office, and then drive to SF to see one of the Ringcycle operas. He usually goes to work around 11 so he can have lunch with his buddies and then heads to the city and gets home around midnight. I had all sorts of plans for my "free" afternoon.

I suddenly realized that was nearly 12 and I hadn't heard him leave. But then I could easily have dozed off and missed it.

As it got past 12, I figured that yes, he left without my seeing him. When he does this, and I know that he won't be home until late or so, I often have the ice cream bar we have together in the evening and eat it in the afternoon instead.

So I was sitting here enjoying my ice cream, feeling very naughty, when Walt came in, in his shorts, sandals and t-shirt and reported that he had been sleeping...and that he had a fever.

Caught! Owell, he'll have his ice cream tonight and I won't. (But my "illegal" treat was very nice.) Whatever reason for the fever, it apparently wasn't all that bad because he was under the sink cleaning in preparation for our pest control guy coming next week.

As any reader here knows, I have been very upset about the situation at the border and feel so heartbroken at the pain the children and their parents, especially those who may never see their children again.

The two countries which have seen the most activity are Guatemala and Honduras. Families coming from these countries are fleeing violence. Sometimes family members have been murdered. One mother talked about her young teen age daughter who was captured by a gang and held for four days and her young son who was being recruited by the gangs.

So I understand the pain and, like so many others, I feel so guilty for being unable to do anything about it.

Then Nely from Guatemala appeared on an ad for Compassion on Amazon. I was immediately drawn to the Kermit she was holding. How can I resist a kid who likes Kermit?

But did I have enough money to add one more sponsorship? Probably not and kids this cute are usually gone in a day or two. I've watched Nely for a whole week. I finally decided that if she was still there yesterday, I'd sponsor her.

There she was again. I fully expected that when I clicked on her photo it would say she had already been sponsored and that I would be offered other kids, but no there she was, still holding Kermit.

So I agreed to sponsor her.

Then I had to laugh because when I clicked on her photo to get further information, Compassion offered me the opportunity to sponsor another child from the same facility and showed about 8 other kids.

Four of those 8 kids were holding the same Kermit!

I feel kind of manipulated, but since I can't do anything to help the kids trying to get to the safety of the U.S., I can at least help one little girl in Guatemala. As someone on Facebook said, "saving one person won't change the world, but it will change the world for that one person. We do what we can, where we can, to do the most good."